Her Cardboard Lover (1942)

A love struck woman (Norma Shearer) can't trust herself around her dashing lover (George Sanders), who treats her badly. She always goes crawling back to him. So she hires a young man (Robert Taylor) to pose as her lover and to step in whenever she weakens and tries to go back to him. There's a small problem however. The young man is as crazy about her as she is with her narcissistic lover. Based on the play DANS SA CANDEUR NAIVE by Jacques Deval and directed by George Cukor (GASLIGHT). This was Shearer's final film at MGM where she was its reigning queen for many years and it's a sad swan song. There are so many problems with the movie, where does one start? Robert Taylor is miscast. Along with Tyrone Power, he was one of the handsomest stars of their era, women threw themselves at them. Here, he's all wrong as the tongue tied, shy and awkward man with a crush. It doesn't help that Taylor is ill suited to comedy. All three of the main characters are sick! Sanders is a womanizer who won't stay faithful to Shearer, she's a doormat with no pride and Taylor is a stalker who won't take no for an answer. Reputedly, Shearer turned down MRS. MINIVER to do this? With Elizabeth Patterson, Chill Wills and Frank McHugh.